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Two years ago, Apple released the MacBook Air and claimed it to be the world’s thinnest laptop. Intel apparently disagreed and developed the “ultrabook,” an extremely thin but powerful laptop.

And now, other manufacturers have finally caught up with this thin trend and have added their own versions to the market. As we saw at the Consumer Electronics Show last week, this year is all about thin gadgets. Acer launched what it claimed was the thinnest ultrabook, and Lenovo launched its thinnest tablet the next day.

While a thin gadget should be able to boost productivity and make entertainment on the go more convenient, the tech industry’s obsession with thinness does not guarantee a good user experience.

Design strategist Bram Pitoyo said he is worried about new product’s marketing strategy which heavily emphasizes thinness, weight and high resolution because engineers will forget to consider the user experience. Known as UX by designers, user experience is the art of understanding how a person interacts with a system.

“A product should improve your life in a meaningful way,” he said. “It should make you safer, save you time and make you more efficient while working.”

Bram is especially worried about this thin obsession, because good developers often think too rationally. They can create a system to accomplish tasks as fast as possible, but unfortunately, users don’t think that way.

“It’s not just about something that works, but something that works elegantly,” he said.

Personal taste is also a factor, and seeing that everyone has a different preference, manufacturers should be able to promote their signature UX, and not just thinness.

A quick way to see if a product offers a good experience is to give it multiple tasks and see how fast the machine can complete them. Try working on a document and printing it out at the same time.

“Does this product allow you to accomplish your tasks without pausing?” Bram said.

Unfortunately, bad UX is everywhere but most people just don’t realize it, said New York-based Indonesian Web developer Boy Avianto.

For example, the inconvenient buttons on a microwave or the hard-to-find gas tanks on different cars.

A good UX should be simple and not confusing. A good example is the light switch, which operates in a universal way. Switch it up, and the light is on. Switch it down, and the light us off.

The same logic applies in designing gadgets. And since it involves people, culture has a big effect on UX design. A person who is not Japanese may not be able to operate a Japanese TV remote control or a vending machine, Boy said.

Bram pointed out that while users think of a computer screen as a collection of text, buttons and images, it is actually composed of mental models, which differ by culture and situation. For example, Internet users in oppressive countries, should have good privacy options because anonymity can be the difference between life and death. Options for private browsing, erasing file downloads or history, and other security measure are all part of the UX.

“It’s the job of UX to offer you options from the moment you start your computer until you shut it down,” Bram said.

To avoid being a victim of the thin gadget trend, Boy and Bram suggest gadget lovers stick to their priorities and don’t buy quickly.

“I would suggest people buy things from a company that spends a lot of money designing and engineering things to fit your needs,” Bram said. “Learn and choose about these companies.”

Although lot of people turn to their tech-savvy friends for suggestions when buying a new gadget, Boy said that isn’t necessary.

“Do not deceived by the way it looks, or worse, by its promotion or friend’s suggestion,” Boy said. “It’s UX, it’s personal, it’s about you.”